


rest upon the hallowed ground

by HearJessRoar



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Friend Julie Molina, Male-Female Friendship, do i write anything else be honest, julie is collecting ghost boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27607541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HearJessRoar/pseuds/HearJessRoar
Summary: Julie meets Willie.Willie is a little baffled by that.Willie is still staring at her, so she continues, “Alex isn’t here.”And his expressioncrumbleslike Julie just punched him.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina & Willie
Comments: 81
Kudos: 1060





	rest upon the hallowed ground

Julie takes a slow drink of her soda, observing as the boy in front of her keeps peering into the studio windows.

“Can I help you?”

The boy jumps and whips around to face her.

Her first thought is that he’s cute. Her second thought is that he looks terrified of her. Julie tilts her head at him as he backs up against the garage door.

She takes in his long hair and his tie dyed shirt, his jewelry and his socks, and it clicks. “Are you Willie? Alex’s ghost friend?”

She nearly uses air quotes around “friend” because she’s seen the way Alex talks about Willie, and she’s pretty sure that friends don’t get heart eyes so bad they walk directly into the piano when another friend’s name is simply mentioned. But that’s Alex’s business.

Willie is still staring at her, so she continues, “Alex isn’t here.”

And his expression _crumbles_ like Julie just punched him. She thinks it’s a bit of an overreaction; Alex is just out with Reggie, trying to track down Reggie’s parents. She still thinks that’s a bad idea, but Reggie desperately wants to know where they went after their house was sold, and she can’t deny him that closure.

And then it hits her like a freight train that Willie probably doesn’t know that Alex didn’t cross over _or_ that he didn’t get zapped out of existence the night of the Orpheum performance, because she’s pretty sure Alex mentioned something yesterday about not being able to find him, and it’s been like two weeks and-

_oh crap._

She approaches him, one hand out like she’s trying not to spook a scared cat. “Hey. I just meant, Alex isn’t here _right now._ He’s okay, he’ll be back later.”

His wavering eyes stay on her for a long moment and then-

Something in him seems like it _snaps_ , and he sags against the garage, sliding down to sit on the ground. Julie’s heart goes out to him, and she kneels down in front of him, soda set aside. Willie tangles his fingers stressfully into the roots of his hair, pressing his palms into his eyes.

“You can see me?” he whispers brokenly, and Julie is taken aback.

“Uh. Yeah? Am I not supposed to? You weren’t being very sneaky-”

“No one-” he says, sounding stilted and far away. “No one outside the club. Has been able to see me. Since 1987.”

Julie blinks. “Huh.”

And then, because she’s curious and also not really thinking about it, she reaches out with her finger, and pokes his hand.

Willie jumps so hard he smacks his head on the garage door, staring at her like she’s some sort of...well, ghost.

“What are you?” he asks, and Julie decides not to be offended by it. He asks it with such awe that it’s hard to get her feelings hurt. She shrugs.

“I’m Julie.” she says. It’s the best answer she can give. 

She reaches out and takes his hands, smiling at him. “Do you want to wait for Alex inside? I was just gonna fiddle around with the keyboard and I could use some company.”

He lets her pull him to his feet, still gazing at her and then their clasped hands with complete bewilderment. Julie rolls with it, leaning down to pick up her drink. She opens the doors to the studio and leads him inside, flicking the lights on.

“I won’t tell if you mess with their stuff,” she says conspiratorially, dropping his hand and sitting down on her spinning stool. “They abandoned me today, they deserve what they get.”

Willie doesn’t say anything, and Julie bites down on a grin as he makes a beeline for Alex’s drum kit. He runs a finger gently over one of the cymbals, nearly reverently, and Julie has to look away, suddenly feeling like she’s intruding on him. Apparently Alex isn’t the only one completely smitten.

He sits down and taps his fingers anxiously on the snare. “So-” he starts, then stops. She looks up at him expectantly.

Willie looks like he’s having a hard time forming his question into words, but Julie thinks she knows what he wants to ask.

“The night of the performance, their stamps disappeared.” she says, pressing a key absently. “I can touch them now. Dunno why. Don’t _care_ why.”

The memory of that night is such a rollercoaster of emotions for her to look back on, and just thinking about it roils her gut. The high of the performance, the pit in her stomach as she bid her silent goodbye to them onstage, the blood-freezing terror she felt for them when she discovered they hadn’t crossed over. Julie thinks about Reggie’s crying eyes and Alex doubled over in pain, and she wants to be sick to her stomach, even now on the other side of the whole ordeal. But the echo of that first hug with Luke, the realization that she could feel his arms wrapped so tightly around her, that second hug where her boys stopped _fading_ in front of her and the complete wash of _relief_ that came with it, it almost makes the complete and utter horror worth it for the ending. 

_Almost._

Flynn would tell her she’s too attached, but Flynn doesn’t get to see them the way that Julie does.

And Flynn didn’t watch them almost die for the second time.

Coming back to the now, she gives him a mischievous grin, raising her eyebrows. “Alex gives _the best_ hugs, doesn’t he.”

Willie goes a little pink and Julie calls it victory. She’s beyond onboard with this relationship, she’s just rolled over into _heavily invested._

Fair is fair, Alex keeps teasing her about staring at Luke. She can’t wait to do the same thing back to him, now that she knows she can see Willie, too. 

It’s comfortably quiet for a moment, and it surprises her when they both speak at the same time with, “He talks about you a lot-”

Julie blinks. 

Willie blinks.

She snorts a laugh, smiling widely at him. “He told me what you did for him, to get us the opening act at the Orpheum. Thank you.”

His smile is soft and regretful as he stares down at the kit. “I got them into that mess. It was only right I try to get them out.”

“No one blames you, Willie.”

“I blame me.” he says, his eyes suspiciously wet when he looks up at her. Julie’s heart twists. 

She doesn't really know what to say to make him feel better, but, "We've all done something stupid to impress a boy at some point," probably wasn't it.

Unfortunately, it is what she said, and Julie winces.

But he seems amused by it, and he says, "So. You know, then."

And Julie tries not to laugh, she really does. But it's just such a ridiculous question. "Neither of you is subtle, dude. Alex was like, 'he kept asking me weird questions,' and I was like Alex. Babe. He was trying to suss out if you liked boys."

Willie’s blushing again, drawing circles on the snare with his fingertips. "He's cute and I'm stupid," he mutters.

"Funny, he said the same thing the other day," Julie says, reaching over to grab a stray piece of notebook paper. She scribbles down a lyric that's been running through her head nonstop since yesterday. "Hey, tell me what you think of this," she says, waving the paper at him.

"I don't really know anything about writing mus-okay," she shoves the paper through the air and lets him fumble to catch it.

Julie gets the feeling that it's been awhile since anyone has hung out with Willie. Alex, sure, but they're both so enamored with each other that there's pressure in their hang outs. Julie can sympathize; it's the same feeling that happens when she hangs out with Luke.

And she likes Willie. He's sweet and and he’s chill and he cares about Alex, and her heart had absolutely _shattered_ when the boys told her that their ghost friend didn't own his soul anymore.

The more she hears about Caleb, the more she wants to tear his head off with her fingernails.

He’s staring at the paper, and she thinks his hands start to shake. "Is this about your mom?" and then it's his turn to wince. "I'm sorry, Alex told me."

She smiles, almost ruefully. "A little bit, yeah. Kind of based on something she used to tell me."

" _Grey skies deserve bright colors, don't keep your sunshine to yourself,_ " he reads out loud. "I like it. You're really talented."

She smiles. She never gets sick of being appreciated. "Thanks. You haven't gotten to see us play yet, have you?"

Willie shakes his head.

"You'll have to come to our next gig."

His face falls. “I don’t know if I can. It was hard enough sneaking away today-”

Julie’s heart breaks for him all over again. He passes the paper back to her and draws into himself, his hand clasped over his own bicep protectively. It strikes her then that Alex had told her Willie was a skateboarder, and his board has been nowhere in sight since she found him outside.

Rage pools in her throat. “Willie. Where’s your skateboard.”

He stares at his shoes.

Julie sees red.

Because if Willie’s board is tied to his soul the way that her boys’ instruments are attached to theirs, then Caleb owning Willie’s soul means-

“I’m calling an exorcist on that stupid club,” she mutters, standing up abruptly. Willie stares at her like he’s afraid she might really do it as she stomps past him to get to the loft stairs. She digs through the leftover junk that’s piled up in the last few years, past the boys’ stuff they’ve been accumulating, shifting aside baseball and bowling trophies to find one of Carlos’ boxes of miscellaneous and sundry he no longer has any use for.

She knocks over an old suitcase and it hits with a dusty thud, but right behind it is what she’s looking for.

Making a triumphant noise, she tucks her prize under her arm and climbs back down the ladder. 

Willie is still sitting at the drum kit, looking at her like he thinks she might be a little bit nuts, but Julie is used to that by now. She even thinks it’s a little funny, since between her and the ghosts that haunt her garage, she’s probably the sanest one.

Go figure.

“This was my brother’s for like, ten seconds a couple years ago. Before he fell off of it and cried so hard my mom put it away.” She holds the skateboard out to him. “It’s probably not as good as your board, but-”

He takes it from her, looking so touched by it that Julie thinks she might be about to cry. Willie sets it across his knees, wheels up, and drags a finger down the underside. She knows it isn’t much, but it’s what she has, and her mom had always taught her to give the best she had.

Willie sniffles. “You’re really as great as Alex says you are.”

Julie smiles at him, and rests her hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently, just because she can.

“You can come over any time you need to, okay? You don’t have to creep in the windows.”

“Julie-”

She cuts off his protest, waving her hand airily. “Look, I’m collecting lost boys anyway, what’s one more?” and he smiles, so she continues a little sardonically. “Thinking about rebranding the studio into a ghost sanctuary. _Julie’s Home For Wayward Dead Dudes._ ”

Willie laughs, true and open and honest, and Julie can see why Alex is so gone over him. She retreats, lets him have some space, and sits back down at her keyboard.

“I have accomplished _nothing_ today, you’re a terrible influence,” she grumbles theatrically, snapping her notebook paper.

“That’s what people tell me,” Willie says absently, spinning one of the wheels on the skateboard. “Do you mind if I-?” he gestures with his head towards the door, indicating he’d very much like to go outside with his new toy, and Julie heaves a put-upon sigh.

“Yes, please, _leave_ ,” she says dramatically. “Can’t get any work done with you in here.” she winks at him and he grins, ducking through the studio doors instead of opening them in his excitement.

Caleb still owns his soul, but Julie can at least give him this; a safe place to go, to hide from whatever horrors are haunting this ghost boy with the long hair and the sweet smile.

 _”What are you?"_ he had asked.

Julie doesn’t know, but she hopes that the answer is _a friend._

**Author's Note:**

> julie’s lyric is based on my mom's advice about never wearing dark colors on rainy days thanks mom
> 
> this is super unedited bc im leaving for work and i just want it done anyway stan julie molina she's a queen
> 
> pls drop a comment if u liked it, and then go check out my other jatp fics bc hey u read this one why not the rest


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